The Women Who Actually Built the Trails You Hike (And the Data That Matters)

Fifty-three percent of U.S. hikers are now female.

That's not a trend line pointing toward something. That's the current baseline, from the Outdoor Industry Association's 2025 Participation Trends Report. Women are already the majority. They've been the plurality for years and crossed the threshold without most of the coverage noticing.

I want to sit with that number for a second before I do anything else with it, because it reframes everything that follows. This isn't a story about women entering a male-dominated space. It's a story about who actually built this space — the infrastructure, the vision, the access — and what the data says about what's still unfinished.

I'm going to skip the inspirational platitudes. You can find those anywhere. What I want to give you is the measurable record.

The Bellingham Woman Who Drew the Line

In 1926, a woman named Catherine Montgomery had a conversation with a climber named Joseph Hazard that went something like this:

"Why do not you Mountaineers do something big for Western America? A high winding trail down the heights of our western mountains...from the Canadian Border to the Mexican Boundary Line."

Montgomery was a founding faculty member at what is now Western Washington University — my university, in my town — earning $70 a month. Hazard carried the idea to the mountaineering community. What eventually came out of it, after decades of advocacy and construction, was the Pacific Crest Trail: 2,650 miles, now part of the National Trails System (1977).

Every PCT thru-hiker, section hiker, or Washington state hiker who has ever set foot on that corridor is walking on an idea that originated in Bellingham in 1926. Catherine Montgomery's name is on essentially none of the signage.

She also left nearly $1 million in today's dollars to preserve old-growth forest at Federation Forest State Park. Her impact on Pacific Northwest trail access was financial as well as visionary.

When I talk about infrastructure — the actual physical and organizational backbone of the hiking world I document on this blog — Catherine Montgomery is where the Cascades section of that story starts.

The Solo Problem, 1976

The Pacific Crest Trail in 1976 was a different animal. No apps, no YouTube prep, no curated gear lists. Approximately 12 people completed it that year total.

One of them was a 20-year-old woman named Carolyn "Ravensong" Burkhart, who prepared in about two weeks, carried a men's pack she padded with an ACE bandage, and became the first woman to solo thru-hike the PCT. The context matters here: she didn't know she was doing something that wasn't done.

"I didn't realize at the time that single women weren't doing the trail," she said in a 2021 interview with The Trek. "Along the way, people asked me, 'You don't have someone with you?'"

She lives in Mazama, WA now — a PCT trail town north of the Methow Valley, on the approach to the northern terminus. She and her partner operate "The Roost," where they've trail-angeled hundreds of thru-hikers annually for years. She's still in the ecosystem, still contributing, still measurable.

The safety question people ask Ravensong now — "You don't have someone with you?" — is the same question that shows up in 2025 survey data as the primary barrier to female outdoor participation. The concern has not resolved in 49 years. That's worth acknowledging.

The 2025 Numbers: Both Sides

Here's the full picture, not the half that gets quoted in brand press releases:

The positive half:

• 53% of U.S. hikers are female (OIA, 2025)
• 52% of women plan to increase outdoor activity in 2025 (Winnebago Industries survey, 1,000 respondents)
• 59% of new participants in mass outdoor challenges are women (OS GetOutside Report, 2026)

The other half:

• 90% of women report facing barriers to outdoor participation (same Winnebago survey)
• Primary barrier: safety concerns when hiking alone
• Secondary barrier: social dynamics — specifically, family disinterest in outdoor recreation, which doubled since 2022
• Hiking remains the least racially diverse outdoor activity despite being a low-barrier "gateway" activity (OIA Footwear Trends Report, 2025)

The 90% barrier rate is the number I keep coming back to. More than half of hikers are female, and nine out of ten of them are navigating some obstacle to participation. Those two data points existing simultaneously tells you something important: participation has increased despite the barriers, not because they've been resolved.

The Winnebago CMO framed it this way: "Community, safety and education are critical factors in the enjoyment of outdoor recreation...As an outdoor industry, it's time for us to unite and ensure that every woman feels welcome, safe, and empowered in the outdoors." That's a corporate statement, but the numbers behind it are real.

For context on the "gateway" point: OIA data shows that 85% of hikers also camp, fish, or paddle. Removing barriers to hiking creates compounding effects across the entire outdoor recreation economy. This is not a niche concern.

What 2025 Actually Looked Like on the Trails

Three records from last year that deserve specific documentation, because records are how you measure the state of a field:

Betty "Legend" Kellenberger, age 80 — Became the oldest woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2025. Two failed prior attempts behind her, due to: Lyme disease, severe dehydration, a concussion, a fractured ankle, a knee replacement, and Hurricane Helene. Her fifth decade of hiking included knee replacement recovery and an AT thru-hike attempt at 80. The record matters less than the methodology: she was specific about staying physically active as prerequisite for staying capable of ambitious objectives.

Lyla "Sugar" Harrod — Women's self-supported AT FKT: 52 days, 18 hours, 37 minutes. That's 42 miles per day, every day, for 53 days. She's also the first trans woman to hold an AT FKT, and separately developed a new route connecting the CDT to the PCT — the "Divide to Crest" — while mentoring trans thru-hikers through the planning process. Functional contribution to trail culture, not just record-setting.

Madison "Peg Leg" Blagden — Completed the Border-to-Border Calendar Year Triple Crown in 2025: all three National Scenic Trails (PCT, AT, CDT) in a single calendar year, 8,405 miles total, breaking Heather "Anish" Anderson's annual mileage record of approximately 7,800. She was targeting 10,000 miles across the year — averaging better than 27 miles per day for 365 consecutive days.

For comparison: Heather Anderson is a Bellingham local and holds the PCT unsupported FKT at 60 days, 17 hours (2013). The record lineage for women in long-distance hiking runs directly through the PNW.

What This Actually Means for Your Next Hike

The 53% majority number is not just a milestone. It has operational implications.

Trail infrastructure — restrooms, water sources, campsite distances, gear sizing — was largely designed around an assumed male user when most of it was built. A majority-female hiking population is using infrastructure that wasn't specified for them. That's a logistics problem with real solutions that are slowly being implemented, but slowly.

The solo safety barrier is the one I think about most from a practical standpoint. The data says it's the primary reason women don't increase their trail time. Group hiking programs and mentorship structures address this more effectively than any gear solution. If you're an experienced hiker — male or female — and you're wondering what measurable thing you could do this season: lead some group hikes. Offer your route knowledge. The community infrastructure matters as much as the physical trail infrastructure.

One more number: the 85% cascade effect. If hiking is the entry point to the full outdoor recreation ecosystem, and 90% of the majority demographic faces participation barriers, resolving those barriers isn't a secondary concern. It's the main lever on overall outdoor engagement.

The Baseline

Catherine Montgomery drew the line from Canada to Mexico in 1926. Carolyn Burkhart walked it alone at 20 with a padded men's pack and two weeks of preparation. Heather Anderson ran it in 60 days. Betty Kellenberger is 80 and still going.

53% of hikers are female. 90% still face barriers.

The record is real. The work isn't finished.

Garrett Vance is a former logistics manager and Bellingham-based trail analyst. All route information reflects conditions as of the post date — always verify current conditions before heading out.